Tuesday, November 18, 2008

Doc Hudson and Slinky the Dog are Getting New Voices


Pixar is in some trouble. The actors who voiced Doc Hudson (Paul Newman) and Slinky the Dog (Jim Varney) are both deceased. Pixar is in the planning stages of Toy Story 3 and Cars 2, so the obvious question arises, "What to do about the lack of voice actors for your characters?"

MTV got the answers from John Lasseter.

He starts off by commenting that Paul Newman was unable to record any dialogue before his death. He has this to say about Mr. Newman:

It's been really sad because I had a great friendship with Paul, and he was so impressive to work with in 'Cars' — [he] really made that character. So I have fond, fond memories of him. Not only did he make a great character, but he became a great friend of mine too, so I'm gonna really miss him.
John Lasseter says that they still don't know what they will do about Doc Hudson's voice in their upcoming feature, Cars 2. He comments that they aren't even sure if the mentoring automobile will make an appearance in the 2011 release.

Toy Story 3 has a similar problem. Jim Varney, the voice of Slinky the Dog passed away in 2000. Pixar still doesn't know how they'll deal with this dilemma either, but Lasseter comments that "we found actually an old friend of [Varney's] who sounds an awful lot like him — another actor that's going to be doing that voice."

Jim Varney (left) voicing Slinky the Dog for 'Toy Story'

So, there ya have it, another possibility may be a replacement, or they could write him out too, which would be an awful shame; I like Slinky the Dog.

It is very sad that two talented actors passed away so suddenly, but I am curious to see how Pixar will deal with this predicament. But, whatever the case, I am sure that Pixar will continue to make quality movies for everybody's enjoyment; they always have and they always will.

Source: The Pixar Blog

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